Posted by Mike Grossman
a resident of Community Center
on Jul 7, 2012 at 8:17 am

Several of us found an injured dog (possibly part German Shepherd) wandering around at Rinconada Park about 20 minutes after the crash. I think it's possible that the dog was somehow involved in the accident. Perhaps the driver was trying to avoid hitting the dog. From the tennis courts, we heard a long screech of brakes before the sound of a collision.

Posted by HillbillyHeaven
a resident of Community Center
on Jul 7, 2012 at 8:31 pm

I saw the whole thing. She was driving north on Middlefield Rdandwasn't paying attention. The dog....I believe it was a laberdoodle or yorky/English bulldog mix...was in the front seat and it looked like she was giving him some kind of treat. As she came to the intersection...the light was RED....the dog began barking furiously and jumped on her seat (possibility wanting more Milkbones?) and obscured her view. She blew the red light and was "t-boned" by an AMC Gremlin traveling at a high rate of speed. The Gremlin was driven by a middle-aged man wearing a tie dyed t-shirt that read "Make Love, Not War.

Posted by DogLover
a resident of Downtown North
on Jul 7, 2012 at 8:54 pm

Dog should NOT be allowed in the front seat of automobiles. They can be seriously injured if there's an accident. Like small children, they should be in the back seat. Reading "Skymall" during a recent flight, I saw an ad for "Doggie Seat", a car seat for your dog...comes in small, medium, and large for different size dogs. They also sell "Doggie Diapers" for those long trips. The dog car seat sounds like a good idea, but who gets to change the diapers??

@Sharon: about the natural gas: are you familiar with the hydrofracking techniques that are polluting water supplies with toxic chemicals and causing earthquakes in areas of the US? Loss of water is quite a price to pay for fuel - but of course, fracking is not likely in Palo Alto, and our precious water from the Sierras may not be in danger - yet. Fracking is coming to California, if "Friends of Natural Gas" have their way. Cheap, clean and safe? Not really! Stay tuned.

Posted by Experienced Cyclist
a resident of Community Center
on Jul 9, 2012 at 1:20 pm

I also live near that intersection and walked my kids to Walter Hays every morning for about 10 years, which involves walking through that intersection. During the morning commute hours, you see someone run that red light just about every cycle, especially the folks turning left from southbound Middlefield to eastbound Embarcadero. It's surprising there aren't more such accidents at that location. If PAPD ever needs to do some revenue generation, that should be easy picking.

Posted by jimmy cheng
a resident of Walter Hays School
on Jul 9, 2012 at 4:09 pm

For my 6 months experienced as a school crossing guard, at the intersection of fire station 3, i almost got run over twice.
Which i'm with my so bright reflective vest , while i'm walking inside the cross walk.
All i can do is just pray to see another day.

Posted by commuter
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 10, 2012 at 8:36 am

Obviously, Carlitos was commenting on why does the PAPD not strictly enforce speed limits on residential roads next to many of our schools? Increasing the speed limit on roads near schools is unthinkable. If possible, the city should make all school roads double fine zones.

Posted by Mr. stop
a resident of Mountain View
on Dec 7, 2012 at 3:58 pm

I happen to work 3 blocks down on Embarcadero
as crossing guard, I see 9 red light runners everyday at this corner.
I conclude that drivers:
a)don't respect the traffic laws
2) don't read or obey signs
3) are too dumb to know they are breaking the law
4)think that they are more important than pedestrians so why not
play "the biggest bully wins"?
5) don't really give a darn if they run over or run into somebody.
And I have only seen a policeman pull over a car ONE time there, probably for expired license tag?
So who wants my job? its yours!